Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1887-07-07

AOA y
he sat and walked, dumb, dead to every
thing about him. He knew no one, he
seemed to recognize no one; he uttered no
sound, save now and then deep sigh his
eyes were dull and cold; his whole express
sion was empty and meaningless; his mind
was hopelessly wrecked.
1t is unnecessary to detail the melan-
choly history Of the years that followed.
He was always the same, no matter who
was before him. His brother and sister,
his betrothed, the boys of the family, his
friends and acquaintances none were
recognized. He ate and drank mechanically
what was set before him; he walked upre-
| sistingly wherever he was led; he never
opposed any direction or management; but
never, until tho day of his death-save on
one occasion, to be noted-did he display
the slightest intelligence.
The news of this strange case went all
through the settlements. Visitors thronged
the Dnvenant home. Physicians came
from afar to examine the victim of this un-
solyable mystery. They questioned about
his education, his habits of life, his attach
ment to Miss Carruth, his relations with
his brother, and his brothers family.
Upon the answers to these questions, there
was q perfect agreement among the
| doctors that nothing short of some stupen-
dous, some extraordinary shock, could
have possibly dethroned such mind, and
reduced it to the condition in which they
| found it.
But what could that cause have been? 1t
was in attempting to answer that question
that science and medicine were completely
baffied.
1t was very early suggested that Roger
Davenant had that evening quarreled with
his betrothed, and that his reason had
| yielded to the blow. The truth shortly
came out, that upon that night, with the
consent of Gertrude's parents, the follow
ing Christmas day was fixed for the we'd
ding. 10o'clock he had said goodnight
to Gertrude, and mounted his horse, with
that understanding.
| Suggestions and speculations were not
wanting to account for the utter wreck of
Roger Davenant's mind. 1t was said that
he had seen specter in the wood. Some
were sure that he was himself criminal,
and that his conscience had driven him to
madness. Others affirmed that he had
been the witness of some hideous crime on
this road, and that the terrors of the scene,
with, perhaps, an obligation of secrecy i'm
posed upon him by the murderers upon his
discovery, had driven him insane.
! But these were merely guesses. 1t was
mover discovered that any crime was COM
mitted, or that any extraordinary incident
occurred in this neighborhood upon that
night. Careful and repeated searches and
inquiries failed to disclose anything of this
character. There was just one circum-
stance which seemed to throw shadow of
suspicion upon one locality of this route.
1t was suggested that some discovery might
be made by mounting Roger Davenant and
leading his horse over the exact way he was
supposed to have pursued from Mr.. Car
ruths. The experiment was tried. AS the
deep wood was approached the unwilling
rider grew uneasy; when they tried to make
his horse enter he leaped from the saddle,
and with unintelligible cries of terror, he
fled back to the ford.
When his dementia was pronounced
hopeless, Girtrude Carruth married man
who was about to remove to the West. Ex-
cept among the most romantic OF the young
people of this fast-growing neighborhood,
she was not censured. Isaiah and his wife
approved of her marriage. "Itis enough,
the sorrowing brother said, "that one life
should be blasted. Let us not have two.
, But it seemed as if these two lives We're
fl,o, f,l,o
or circumstance to sever them. Three
, brief years passed, and Gertrude returned
from the West, widow. There was nc
change in the condition of Ro2er Davenant
he knew her no more than when she hat
left him; but the double grief and bereave.
l ment which she had suffered seemed tt
draw her again to the poor wreck who hat
> forgotten her in forgetting all the world
= So it happened that she was present at hi
death bed, with the sorrowing relations
who surrounded it.
: For year the physical powers Of Roge
. Davenant had been declining; for mortl
he had been confined to his bed; and th,
: family physician had warned Isaiah tina
his experience led him to predict flash o
> consciousness in the last moments of tn
sufferer.
> "This is most unusual case," he said
= "but what think will happen to him OF
his death-bed is our common experience il
similar cases. Watch him closely, there
;, fore; his last moments in this world ar
!. !. those in which you may expect to find tn
!. key of his terrible seizure"
! In the dying moments of Roger Davenan
!, the prediction of the physician was par
= TALLY fulfilled. The departing soul shon
with strong intelligence through his eyes
in his natural voice he called the name o
% each of those at his bedside, and he he'll
IL out his hands to the eager clasp of hi
: brother and Gertrude.
> at has been like dream, "a long, hor
- rid dream" he said, with faint smile
o 'Thnnk God that it is past!"
y "What troubled you, Roger?" his brothe
9 asked.
The eyes of the dying man turned fror
:, face to face; he shuddered as the recollec
y ton of that night came forcibly back t
10 him. Once he seemed about to spea
!, again, and they drew nearer; but his voic
= failed; his vexed spirit departed, and mad
no further sign. To this day the myster
;. of his unhappy fate has never been ez
:. planned.
Who can even guess it?
" -I-------=
: HISTORY OF CaLICO.